New Delhi: Five Opposition MPs Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding breach of privilege proceedings against Air India for “misrepresenting” their statements on the diversion of a Delhi-bound flight and its missed approach while landing on Sunday evening.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal, Kerala’s United Democratic Front convener Adoor Prakash, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha K. Suresh, party MP from Tamil Nadu Robert Bruce and CPI(M) MP K. Radhakrishnan were on board AI 2455 that was diverted from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai.
In their letter to Birla, the MPs wrote that the flight, scheduled for 7.15 PM on Sunday, eventually departed Thiruvananthapuram around 8.30 PM citing the late arrival of the incoming aircraft. From the outset, the journey was marked by prolonged turbulence and passengers were instructed to remain strapped in, and even basic inflight services such as dinner were withheld, they stated.
“Midway through the flight, the pilot announced a critical technical fault-failure of the weather radar and declared that the aircraft would be diverted to Chennai. This raised immediate concerns since other airports such as Bengaluru and Coimbatore were closer to our location at the time,” they wrote.
The decision to proceed to a farther airport, while allegedly ‘flying blind’, remains unexplained.
“Upon reaching Chennai airspace, the aircraft did not land but continued to circle for more than an hour. The reason for this prolonged holding pattern was not clarified. Eventually, during the first landing attempt, the aircraft had to execute a sudden go-around manoeuvre from a dangerously low altitude, reportedly due to ‘something’ possibly another aircraft on the runway, as per the pilot’s announcement. Only on the second attempt did we land safely,” the MPs wrote to Birla.
Upon their arrival in Delhi past midnight, the MPs, including Venugopal, took to social media to share their experience, claiming that the flight had come frighteningly close to tragedy. The Air India’s response, said the MPs, was aimed at portraying their account as false and misleading, attempted to question their credibility and publicly misrepresent their statements.
“Rather than showing transparency and accountability, Air India has resorted to denial. We, therefore, request that this matter be taken up as a breach of privilege against Air India, and necessary action be initiated to safeguard the rights of Members of Parliament and to ensure that public safety concerns are addressed with seriousness and transparency,” added the MPs.
They also wrote to Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu, seeking a time-bound investigation into the incident, covering both technical and procedural aspects, and to ensure that the findings are made public in full.
“We also request that clear accountability be fixed, operational protocols for emergency diversions and runway safety be strengthened, and passengers be given truthful and timely communication in such situations. We trust that this matter will be treated with the seriousness it deserves, both for the sake of passenger safety and for restoring public confidence,” they wrote.
In a statement Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the flight, which encountered moderate turbulent conditions, was diverted to Chennai as the crew observed that the weather information depicted on the weather RADAR was not accurate.
“After the aircraft was cleared for approach Runway 25 at Chennai, at 22:19 aircraft was instructed to carry out a missed approach by ATC as departing Gulf Air flight GFA053 (Chennai-Bahrain) reported debris on left side of runway. Apron control carried out inspection of the runway and nothing was observed. Aircraft was given landing clearance and aircraft landed safely at 22:39 IST,” the DGCA said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)